Season series: This is the first of two meetings between the Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues. The two teams have not met since Jan. 10, 2012, a 3-0 Blues win at Bell Centre.

Big story: That shutout victory 22 months ago was the first time Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak played in Montreal since he was traded to St. Louis by the Canadiens in the summer of 2010. Halak was named first star and received a standing ovation from the crowd that night, but nearly two years have passed since and Canadiens goalie Carey Price is off to an excellent start to the season. Montreal has scored one goal against Halak in two meetings since the trade, and Price is looking for his victory against his former teammate.

“It was my first game back after I got traded,” Halak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday. “It’s always nice to remind myself that it was a great game, but it’s the past. They’ve got a different team now and it’s a different challenge, every game for us and for them, so I’m sure it’s going to be a big game [Tuesday]."

Team scope:

Blues: Coming off a 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, the team’s first regulation loss in seven games, Blues coach Ken Hitchcock broke up one of the more effective scoring lines in the NHL at practice Monday in an effort to balance the scoring on his team.

The line of T.J. Oshie, David Backes and Alexander Steen has accounted for 20 of the 43 goals scored this season by the Blues, with 12 coming from Steen alone. But Hitchcock removed Oshie from the line to play him with Derek Roy and Vladimir Sobotka, while Chris Stewart grabbed Oshie’s spot on the top line.

“I’m going to say it again, for us to get better, we need more participants,” Hitchcock told the Post-Dispatch. “So sometimes it doesn’t matter how good you have one line, you need more participants. Possibly it’s the time that they use their impact to help other people play better. We need that. We need more people playing better.”

Canadiens: Canadiens coach Michel Therrien also did some line-juggling at practice Monday, placing Alex Galchenyuk at center of the top line with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, while Lars Eller shifted down to the third line between Rene Bourque and Louis Leblanc.

Galchenyuk was moved to his natural center position on that line in the third period of a 4-1 loss Saturday at the Colorado Avalanche when Therrien decided to bench center David Desharnais, who is at risk of being a healthy scratch against St. Louis.

The Canadiens have been reluctant to play Galchenyuk at center because they wanted his transition to the NHL to be a smooth one, but it appears the time for him to make that next transition has arrived.

“I’ve liked his development since last season,” Therrien said. “He’s gained some confidence and he’s gained some comprehension of the game. We’ve been thinking about [moving him to center] for a while, but we needed to find the right moment.

“It just so happened that moment was the third period of the last game. I liked what I saw.”

Who’s hot: For the Blues, Steen has scored at least goal in all but two games in this season, and he has at least a point in all but one game…For the Canadiens, Brendan Gallagher has a goal in two straight games and defenseman P.K. Subban has three points in two games.

Oh Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love, in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts, we see the rise, the true north strong and free, from far and wide, oh Canada we stand on guard for thee!

Oh Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love, in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts, we see the rise, the true north strong and free, from far and wide, oh Canada we stand on guard for thee!

Oh Canada, our home and native land, true patriot love, in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts, we see the rise, the true north strong and free, from far and wide, oh Canada we stand on guard for thee!

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How the hell did the ref determine Backes intentionally dislodged the net? That almost cost us the game right there... I'll take the two points.

I was wondering that too. Seems an awfully sketchy call for so late in the game. And earlier, letting the goal stand after Halak got knocked over by Markov... WTF?

When Halak was bowled over by Markov, he was shoved by Sobotka, so that goal will stand every time. But the net thing was questionable. I guess the ref could have see him extend his arm to brace for impact and assumed he just reached out and took the goal off the moorings, but either way, we got 2 points.

The game probably shouldn't have been as close as it was. The Blues were by far the better team in the 1st period, but only cashed in one goal. After that, the ice tilted and the Blues were chasing the game. Lucky to get a goal late to tie and get it to OT.

So the first goal for Montreal was because Halak got kneed in the freaking face at the initial save, and the second because Bouwmeister made a turnover that he probably won't make again all year. Montreal also got a ridiculous penalty shot call that you won't see in another NHL game this year.

And St. Louis still got two points. Let that sink in for a second.

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This was a poorly officiated game all around. I really thought a few of those calls against the Habs were questionable... and then the interference thing and penalty shot thing happened and it all balanced out.

Yeah that Penalty shot call was THE WORST CALL EVER! I've never seen a worse call than that. Give him a 2 minute penalty, I could see that. But a penalty shot? Terrible. I mean the freaking Blues had possession of the puck before and after the net came off.

Terible calls all night by the refs, but it was a fun game to watch even if the Blues only played in the 1st and OT. Not really sure what we were doing in the 2nd and 3rd but a fun game no the less. Bet the Habs wish they had Price/Halak tandem still.

I'll defer to those who know the rulebook better- are the refs supposed to call a penalty shot if a player deliberately dislodges the net? Or is it supposed to be a standard 2-minute delay of game penalty?

I still say it's pretty damn sketchy for the refs to claim Backes deliberately dislodged the net on that play. Wonder if that call will get reviewed by the league. [/sarcasm]

I'll defer to those who know the rulebook better- are the refs supposed to call a penalty shot if a player deliberately dislodges the net? Or is it supposed to be a standard 2-minute delay of game penalty?

I still say it's pretty damn sketchy for the refs to claim Backes deliberately dislodged the net on that play. Wonder if that call will get reviewed by the league. [/sarcasm]

I don't really know the rule either, but I think the penalty shot had something to do with it being in the final minute of the period. Normally I think it's just a 2 minute minor. I could be (and probably am) wrong though. I thought Kelly/Pang mentioned the time being part of it.

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I'll defer to those who know the rulebook better- are the refs supposed to call a penalty shot if a player deliberately dislodges the net? Or is it supposed to be a standard 2-minute delay of game penalty?

I still say it's pretty damn sketchy for the refs to claim Backes deliberately dislodged the net on that play. Wonder if that call will get reviewed by the league. [/sarcasm]

I don't really know the rule either, but I think the penalty shot had something to do with it being in the final minute of the period. Normally I think it's just a 2 minute minor. I could be (and probably am) wrong though. I thought Kelly/Pang mentioned the time being part of it.

If by reason of insufficient time in the regular playing time or by reason of penalties already imposed, the minor penalty assessed to a player for deliberately displacing his own goal post cannot be served in its entirety within the regular playing time of the game or at any time in overtime, a penalty shot shall be awarded against the offending team.

Yeah, it's because it was with less then two mins left in the game.63.5 Penalty Shot

If by reason of insufficient time in the regular playing time or by reason of penalties already imposed, the minor penalty assessed to a player for deliberately displacing his own goal post cannot be served in its entirety within the regular playing time of the game or at any time in overtime, a penalty shot shall be awarded against the offending team.

That is a little unclear. Why couldn't the 2 minute penalty be concluded in overtime? The NHL needs to look at the wording of some of it's rules. I guess that since the refs couldn't be sure the game would reach overtime then that is why they awarded the penalty shot?

STLADOGG wrote:

Yeah that Penalty shot call was THE WORST CALL EVER! I've never seen a worse call than that. Give him a 2 minute penalty, I could see that. But a penalty shot? Terrible. I mean the freaking Blues had possession of the puck before and after the net came off.

The ref down low watched Backes hit the net and made no call on the play. It was the back ref, whose sightline was obstructed by Backes' body that made the call. If they were doing a good job, they would have conferred and dropped the whole thing. The low ref should have spoken up and said it wasn't a penalty. Have a faceoff in the neutral zone and finish the game.

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Petro looked like a beast and played up to his 6.5 million dollar price tag last night. He finished with over 30 minutes and only made one mistake that I can recall. He was moving the puck exceptionally well and it is rubbing off on the entire team, especially the top 2 lines. He is starting to look like a milder version of Pronger.

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